He’s Different
I recently asked a recruit his thoughts on my starting sophomore point guard Derrick “DJ” Talton JR. The two went to the same high school and still play open gym in the summer against each other. His response, “DJ is Different!!”
That response and even the decision to add the two exclamation points nailed it. His response was absolutely spot on, I could not have chosen a better way to describe Derrick Talton Jr.
God has blessed me with the opportunity to coach some very rare gems and each and every one of them were DIFFERENT in their own special way! They all beat to their own drums and each and every one of them grew in their ability to play to the beat of their Savior’s drum.
The only player to ever be chosen twice as the NAIA National Player of the Year, Dominique Rambo, loved to describe it like this, “I just play the background coach, Jesus plays the lead”. Bo was so different.
I heard Kobe say it this way about Ginobli. “He played at a different rhythm than normal NBA players. Only a select few of us have the ability to find that rhythm.” It is true that only a select few can find a different gear that would allow you to play in the NBA, but all of us have the ability and choice to be different and difference makers through the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ!
Often when the world uses the adjective “different” to describe someone, they intend it as a slur referring to that person as odd, or special, but not in a positive way. Who would want the world’s “New Norm” anyway? It is basically like waking up every morning to a new episode of the twilight zone. How refreshing is it when you find someone who is actually different in a positive way!
DJ, a 150 lb point guard, is small in stature to the physical eye, but that is just one of the reasons you can describe him as different. He is different than most 150 lb point guards. He is a hard worker, extremely unselfish, a great student, a special leader and teammate, has a very high motor, loves the defensive end, rebounds very well, is as tough as nails, loves the Lord, and is an absolute joy to coach. I could honestly go on and on. If I felt saying all this about DJ would cause his teammates to get upset or cause DJ to become prideful, then I wouldn’t, but the fact is “DJ is Different!!”
Often Christians are no different from the world in the way they think, talk, dress, and entertain themselves. DJ, like us all, is not perfect, but unlike most, he has a desire inside of him to be different. A desire that pushes himself to become a better version of how God made him every day.
Much of that comes from the close friends DJ chooses to associate himself with. He chooses to hang with other “Different” young men like Austin “AP” Poling. I guarantee you AP’s teammates would agree that a great way to describe AP, is “AP’s Different!!” He lives by the motto “Chop Wood, Carry Water”. I’ll let you seek that one out for yourself.
I could go on and on about my current and past players and how they chose to be different in such a way that other’s take notice. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:17-24 regarding being different,
When Paul says, “I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord,” he is saying the following instruction is God’s command and not his own. God called believers to be different from the world throughout biblical history.
When he called Israel to be his people out of all the nations, he said this to them through Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 18:2-4)
Later, in Leviticus 19:2, he said, “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
In 1 Peter 4:3-4, Peter says the exact same thing encouraging the new Christians to be different.
Is your life different from the world? If not, remember that God delivered you from worldliness so you could know him and live for him.
Believers Must Be Different Because They Are New in Christ. They will know you by your fruit.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
If this is true, Paul is describing the new identity of believers. When Christ saves us, we become new creations in him—old things pass away, and all things become new (2 Cor 5:17). We are born again through the Spirit of God.
However, this does not remove the need to continually renew our minds. Romans 12:2 says: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Maybe it’s time we all tried to be different!
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash